ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3294
http://www.s-gabriel.org/3294
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15 Jun 2007
From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael 

Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel!

You asked for our help developing an authentic Old Norse name, for the
period 900 to 1300, which is as close to "Katrinka white-hair" as is
possible.  Here is what we have found.

<Katrinka> is not a Norse name; it is a Slavic pet form of
<Katherine>. [1,2]  If retaining a name like <Katrinka> is most
important to you, we recommend that you develop a Russian persona.

The name <Katherine> itself was adopted into Old Norse as <Katri/n>
(where the slash represents an acute accent over the previous letter).
The earliest example that we've found is in 1300. [3]  We therefore
can recommend <Katri/n> only for the very end of your period.

In Old Norse, most adjectives came in two forms, a strong form and a
weak form.  When these adjectives were used in bynames, the strong
form was used without the definite article, while the weak form was
usually used with the definitive article.  The most common masculine
Old Norse byname meaning 'the white' (used by people with white hair
or fair complexions) is <inn hvi/ti>; this is the weak form. [4]  The
feminine counterpart is <in hvi/ta>.  The strong form of the masculine
word is <hvi/tr>, and its feminine counterpart is <hvi/t>.

The question is whether either <in hvi/ta> or <hvit/> is appropriate
for the 14th century, which is when we first find <Katri/n>.  The
answer is not entirely clear, though the evidence is towards the
positive.  In Norway we find various late 13th- and 14th-century
masculine examples of bynames based the word for 'white', including: [5]

  <Aszte huiter> 1332
  <Vegeir huiter> 1342
  <Hellgi huitr> between 1307 and 1308
  <Ion huitir> 1300
  <Jon huitir> 1303
  <Endridhir Hwitir> 1298

  <Eilifi huit> before 1299
  <Grimi huit> 1311

The first group of examples above are based on this strong form.  The
second group of examples also probably represent the strong form,
because they lack the definite article, but they may possibly
represent the weak form <hvi/ti>.

In the Viking period, the weak from <inn hvi/ti> was more common than
the strong form <hvi/tr>.  However, the Norwegian data above shows a
favoring of the strong form, though usually we find an <i> or <e>
inserted between the <t> and the <r> to make the word easier to
pronounce.  We do not have the data to say when or even whether
Iceland followed Norway in favoring the strong form over the weak
form.  However, based on the Norwegian examples above, it may be the
case that the strong form is a better choice than the weak form for
14th century Iceland.

We hope that this letter has been useful to you and that you won't
hesitate to write us again if any part was unclear or if you have
further questions.  Research and commentary on this letter was
provided by Ursula Georges, Coblaith Mhuimhneach, Talan Gwynek, 
Juetta Copin, Rian mag Uidir, and Adelaide de Beaumont.

For the Academy,
-Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 15 June 2007

--
References:

[1] Paul Wickenden of Thanet, "A Dictionary of Period Russian Names",
2nd edition (WWW: SCA, Inc., 1996) dates <Katerinka> to 1538-9.
http://www.sca.org/heraldry/paul/

[2] A similar nickname, <Katerineke>, can be found in Dutch.

[3] Academy of S. Gabriel Report #2434
http://www.s-gabriel.org/2434

[4] Uckelman, Sara L., "Viking Bynames Names found in the
Landna/mabo/k" (WWW: privately published, 2004-2005). 
http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/norse/vikbynames.html

[5] --, _Diplomatarium Norvegicum_, vol. 2, nos. 45, 92, 196; vol. 4,
no. 268; vol. 6, no. 80; vol. 12, nos. 21, 24, 32.
http://www.dokpro.uio.no/dipl_norv/diplom_field_eng.html